It's a funny old world we live in when the president of one superpower travels across the world to shake hands with the president of another, who's up for arrest on crimes against humanity.
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It would seem to send a message about peace plans, while not specifically ruling out piece-of-the-action plans.
It's hard to tell with these guys, but hopefully integrity prevails.
If they can bluff that, perhaps there really are no limits.
Closer to home I've been looking to establish influence too - that is, clear mildew off my driveway.
Unfortunately my high pressure water cleaner sprung a leak.
It's usually a weapon of mass destruction.
Comparable to say a javelin missile, HIMAR rocket launcher or Abrams tank in geo-political terms.
And sad, yes, that such military items have become household names of late.
The point being, though, a pressure cleaner that works is a game changer.
Unfortunately, mine has been leaking more credibility than a Russian ambassador on the 7.30 Report.
Failing to blast anything except my water bill, and transferring talk of high pressure to the task of finding a dodgy DIY solution.
And aren't they all for the home handyman?
Cue screwdriver!
YouTube research revealed the gun mechanism of a high pressure water cleaner is relatively straightforward, with only a couple of moving parts.
Unfortunately the parts moving in my gun weren't supposed to.
Namely the O-rings, and/or a possible hairline crack in the housing.
You wouldn't know until you disassembled the head, a task which typically leads to disorientation for the home handyman on the return journey.
Sure enough, attempts to reassemble the gun head nearly reverse-engineered my actual head.
It only took an hour or three to clip everything back into place.
Onto the skin of my hand as it turned out.
Damn that little spring, and apologies to the neighbours for the expletives - &$*@!!
From there I had the pleasure of testing if I'd fixed the problem.
And of course, that'd be a 'no', as indicated by the high volumes of water that continued pouring out of my head.
No, they weren't tears.
But yes, it was actual water, pouring out of the head of my gun.
A gun now pointed at my actual head in terms of finding a leak solution.
There was only one, according to YouTube - order a new gun.
Setting up the next journey of discovery - tracking down a spare part online.
Anything can be found online, the official distributors said.
Unlike at their warehouse.
They could track it down but it would be cheaper if I did it myself.
That's just how things work in the service industry these days.
Or don't.
If you order the wrong part.
Or maybe work at that warehouse.
I took the gamble and the part duly arrived - pretty quick actually.
Even better, my credit card wasn't scammed.
Even better still, the spare part worked.
My cleaner now functioned as you could only imagine in those home handyman dreams where everything turns out OK.
Such a rarity.
With that, like the peace-spruiking president of a superpower, I proceeded to strip the surface of everything in sight, simply because I could.
No leak, no limits.
